Astroblog

Obscured by Clouds. The rough and ready blog of a cloud benighted biologist and amateur astronomer. Astroblog will cover my interests in astronomy, biology and Life, the Universe and Everything.

Friday, March 31, 2017

Seeing comet C/2017 E4 Lovejoy from Australia over the next few mornings

Location of comet C/2017 Lovejoy as seen from Adelaide at 6:03 ACDST ( an hour and a half before sunrise) looking north-east. Similar views will be seen form elsewhere in Australia (and most of the southern hemisphere) at equivalent local times. Click to embiggen

Comet C/2017 E4 Lovejoy is Terry Lovejoy's sixth comet. Terry's comets always seem to bring a bit of excitement and this one is no exception.

Comet C/2017 E4 Lovejoy has been brightening rapidly, and now appears to be in outburst with reports coming in of magnitudes around 7.2 - 7.5, theoretically easily visible in good binoculars.

Unfortunately the comet is very low above the northern horizon, and will rapidly disappear, becoming unobservable after April 6 or so.

So the next few mornings will be the best time to see this comet from the southern hemisphere (it doesn't return to our skies until after it has faded considerably).

There are a few good guides to the comet. Bright Altair, flanked by its two attendant stars, is very obvious well above the north-eastern horizon, sweeping down east is the recognisable diamond shape of the constellation Delphinus, sweeping further east and down again the brightest visible star you next encounter is epsilon Pegasi.

Black and white printable binocular chart for comet C/2017 Lovejoy. Use in conjunction with the charts above. The circle if the approximate field of view of 10x50 binoculars. Click to embigen and print.

The comet is within a binocular field of epsilon Pegasi for the next three mornings, after that sweeping down from epsilon Pegasi should pick it up. Depending on how bright the comet gets it may be visible into nautical twilight (and hour before sunrise). Happy comet hunting.

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Geomagnetic warning and Aurora Happening NOW (28 March)

Unaided eye Aurora with beams are being reported over the past hour from
multiple sites in Tasmania. The SWS has issued a geomagnetic disturbance alert.
Hobart Kindex is 6 but other parameters are less exciting (Velocity: 720 km/sec
Bz: 1.0 nT Density = 4.0 p/cc ) although we have had good aurora under these
conditions before. Despite consistent reports at the moment conditions may
fluctuate rapidly through the evening so there may be several bursts of short
lived aurora, last night conditions stabilised around 11 with persistent aurora
until around 1 am.

Dark sky sites have the best chance of seeing
anything, and always allow around 5 minutes for your eyes to become dark
adapted.

As always look to the south for shifting red/green glows, beams have
been reported consistently over the last few aurora, as well as bright proton
arcs and "picket fences".

Astrophiz Podcast 30 is Out

Our
feature interview is with Dr Elizabeth Tasker who gives a reality check
to the claims that ‘7 earth-like planets' have been found around
TRAPPIST-1, a small star about 40 light years away, and in her most
recent paper, calls for a more accurate definition of our use of the
term ‘habitability'.

Elizabeth is a British astrophysicist who works
at JAXA, the Institute of Space and Astronomical Science, the Japan
Aerospace Exploration Agency.

I tell you what to look for in the
night and morning skies over the next few weeks.

In the news:
1.
The Explosive beginnings of a supernova spotted for the first time (via
Amy Middleton reporting for cosmosmagazine) and she writes about a new
paper in Nature Physics about the spectacular transformation of a star,
assumed to have been a red supergiant, into a supernova, just three
hours after it began.

2. The unexpected discovery of young stars
in old star clusters may send scientists back to the drawing board and
change our understanding of how stars evolve (via Monthly Notices of the
Royal Astronomical Society: Letters, posted in phys.org/astronomy)

3.
A White Dwarf star X9, is the closest star ever found orbiting a black
hole, and it’s orbiting at an astonishing 12 million km/h. The stellar
dance between these two objects is taking place inside a globular
cluster 47 Tucanae, a group of about a million stars orbiting the
galactic centre about 15,000 light years from Earth. (reported by Marcus
Strom for the Sydney Morning Herald)

The Sky This Week - Thursday March 30 to Thursday April 6

The First Quarter Moon is Tuesday April 4. Daylight savings ends Sunday April 2.Mars is low in the twilight. The Thin crescent Moon is inside the head of Taurus the Bull on the 1st. Jupiter and
the bright star Spica
are
close in the late evening
skies, with Jupiter close to opposition. Saturn is high in the morning sky.

The First Quarter Moon is Tuesday April 4. The Moon is at perigee, when it is closest to the Earth, on the 30th.

Evening sky on Saturday April 1 looking west as seen from Adelaide
at
20:05 ACDST (60 minutes after sunset). Mars is low above the horizon, the thin crescent Moon is in the head of Taurus the Bull, just below Aldebaran.

Similar
views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time
(that is 60 minutes after local sunset, click
to embiggen).

Mercury is low the evening twilight, but is difficult to see, you will need a clear,
unobscured level horizon (like the ocean) to see it.

Mars is in the western evening skies in Aires. It is is low in the
dusk sky, but is the brightest object above the western horizon low in the late twilight. Nearby, the thin crescent Moon is in the head of Taurus the Bull, just below Aldebaran.

Evening sky on Saturday April 1 looking east as seen from
Adelaide at 21:00 ACDST. Jupiter is above the horizon close to
the bright star Spica. The inset shows the telescopic
view of Jupiter at this time with Io and its shadow transiting
Jupiter's face. Similar
views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent
local time. (click
to embiggen).

Jupiteris
rising at dusk and is now reasonably high above the
horizon in the evening this week. It is close to the bright star Spica, the brightest
star in the constellation of Virgo.

Opposition, when Jupiter is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, is next week. Jupiter is a good telescopic target
from around 10 pm on, and the dance of its Moons is
visible even in binoculars. The following Jupiter events are in AEST.

Morning sky on Saturday April 1 looking north-east as seen from
Adelaide at 6:04 ACDST (90 minutes before sunrise). Saturn is high above the horizon.

The inset
shows the telescopic view of Saturn at this time. Similar
views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent
local time (90 minutes before sunrise). (click
to embiggen).

Saturn
rises higher in darker morning skies this week. Saturn is now high
enough above north-eastern horizon to see easily and is now a good telescopic
target. It continues to
climb into darker skies as the week progresses. It is within binocular
distance of the Triffid and Lagoon nebula. With the Moon waning this is now an attractive view again..

The constellation of Scorpio is a good guide to locating Saturn. The distinctive curl of Scorpio is easy to see above the
north-eastern horizon, locate the bright red star, Antares, and the look below
that towards the horizon, the next bright object is Saturn.

Venus returns to the morning sky, but is too low in the twilight this week for good observation.

There are lots
of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. If you don't have a telescope, now
is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.

Geomagnetic Warning and Aurora in NZ and Australia NOW (27-28 March)

The Australian Space Weather Service (SWS ) has issued a Geomagnetic Warning for
27-28 March UT from a high speed solar wind stream from a large coronal hole
with active to minor storm activity predicted. However, the indices are
favorable now (Velocity: 540 km/sec Bz: -10.0 nT Density = 13.0 p/cc but current
Kindex is 4) and good unaided eye Aurora are being reported from Southland New
Zealand as of twenty minutes ago, Queenstown NZ, multiple back of camera reports from Tasmania and one apparent uniaded eye sighting from southern Victoria.

Skies are dark virtually all night long. Aurora may be continue to be seen in Tasmania and Victoria if conditions persist
(possibly even further north). G2 storm conditions have been predicted, most
probably around early evening on the 28th, but with the disturbances arriving
early keep an eye out this evening tomorrow morning. However, conditions are
expected to fluctuate rapidly through the evening so there may be several bursts
of short lived aurora.

Dark sky sites have the best chance of seeing
anything, and always allow around 5 minutes for your eyes to become dark
adapted.

As always look to the south for shifting red/green glows, beams have
been reported consistently over the last few aurora, as well as bright proton
arcs and "picket fences".

A
negative polarity recurrent coronal hole is expected to take
a geoeffective
position around the late hours on 27 March (UT
day). Geomagnetic activity
may rise to active levels with some
possibility of minor storm periods late
on 27 March. Geomagnetic
activity is expected to stay high at active to
minor storm levels
on 28 March.

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Aurora happening NOW! (11 pm 22 March)

Despite all the indices being ordinary, camera visible aurora have been seen in
Avoca Victoria and unaided eye visible through cloud in northern Tasmania. If
conditions hold this may be an excellent auroral event. However, conditions are
expected to fluctuate rapidly through the evening so there may be several bursts
of short lived aurora. The waning Moon will rise after 1 am so should not
interfere too much with aurora visibility. .

Dark sky sites have the
best chance of seeing anything, and always allow around 5 minutes for your eyes
to become dark adapted.As always look to the south for shifting red/green
glows, beams have been reported consistently over the last few aurora, as well
as bright proton arcs and "picket fences".

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

The Sky This Week - Thursday March 23 to Thursday March 30

The New Moon is Tuesday March 28. Mercury is very low in the twilight glow and is visited by the Moon on the 29th. Mars is low in the twilight and is visited by the Moon on the 30th. Jupiter and
the bright star Spica
are
close in the late evening
skies. Saturn is high in the morning sky.

The New Moon is Tuesday March 28.The Moon is at perigee, when it is closest to the Earth, on the 30th.

Evening sky on Wednesday March 29 looking west as seen from Adelaide
at 19:45 ACDST (35 minutes after sunset). Mercury is low above the horizon and close to the thin crescent Moon.

Similar
views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time
(that is 35 minutes after local sunset, click
to embiggen).

Mercury returns to the evening twilight, but is difficult to see. On the 29t the tine crescent Moon is close to Mercury, but you will need a clear, unobscured level horizon (like the ocean) to see it.

Evening sky on Thursday March 30 looking west as seen from Adelaide
at
20:08 ACDST (60 minutes after sunset). Mars is low above the horizon, not far from the thin crescent Moon.

Similar
views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time
(that is 60 minutes after local sunset, click
to embiggen).

Mars is in the western evening skies in Pisces. It is is low in the
dusk sky, but is the brightest object above the western horizon low in the late twilight.

Evening sky on Friday March 24 looking east as seen from
Adelaide at 22:50 ACDST. Jupiter is now well above the horizon close to the bright star Spica. The inset shows the telescopic
view of Jupiter at this time with Ganymede and its shadow transiting Jupiter's face, and Io reappearing from occultation. Similar
views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent
local time. (click
to embiggen).

Jupiteris
rising well before midnight and is now reasonably high above the
horizon in the evening this week. It is close to the bright star Spica, the brightest
star in the constellation of Virgo.

Jupiter is a good telescopic target
from around 11 pm on, and the dance of its Moons is
visible even in binoculars. The following Jupiter events are in AEDST.

Morning sky on Saturday March 25 looking north-east as seen from
Adelaide at 5:58 ACDST (90 minutes before sunrise). Saturn is high above the horizon.

The inset
shows the telescopic view of Saturn at this time. Similar
views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent
local time (90 minutes before sunrise). (click
to embiggen).

Saturn
rises higher in darker morning skies this week. Saturn is now high
enough above north-eastern horizon to see easily and is now a good telescopic
target. It continues to
climb into darker skies as the week progresses. It is within binocular
distance of the Triffid and Lagoon nebula. With the Moon waning this is now an attractive view again..

The constellation of Scorpio is a good guide to locating Saturn. The distinctive curl of Scorpio is easy to see above the
north-eastern horizon, locate the bright red star, Antares, and the look below
that towards the horizon, the next bright object is Saturn.

There are lots
of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. If you don't have a telescope, now
is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.

Geomagnetic Warning (22-23 March)

The Australian Space Weather Service (SWS ) has issued a Geomagnetic Warning for
22-23 March UT from a high speed solar wind stream from a large coronal hole.
Morning skies have the waning Moon visible from just after midnight. This will
not interfere too much with aurora visibility. It is possible aurora may be
seen in Tasmania and Victoria if storms eventuate. G1 storm conditions have been predicted, most probably around midnight but we have been surprised with early
evening aurora before (See also NOAA). However, conditions are expected to fluctuate rapidly
through the evening so there may be several bursts of short lived
aurora.

Dark sky sites have the best chance of seeing anything, and
always allow around 5 minutes for your eyes to become dark adapted.As always
look to the south for shifting red/green glows, beams have been reported
consistently over the last few aurora, as well as bright proton arcs and "picket
fences".

The effect of a high
speed solar wind stream from a positive polarity recurrent coronal hole is
expected to raise geomagnetic activity to active levels on 22 March with
some possibility of isolated minor storm periods on this day. Geomagnetic
activity is then expected to remain enhanced to 'active to minor storm'
levels on 23 March.

A Series of Bright ISS passes (16-20 March, 2017)

The ISS passes almost over Procyon, as seen from Melbourne on the evening of Friday 17 March
at 20:25 AEDST. Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a
bright dot), click to embiggen.

The ISS passes between Sirius and Canopus, as seen from Adelaide on the evening of Thursday 16 March
at 20:46 ACDST. Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a
bright dot), click to embiggen.

The ISS passes through the False Cross, as seen from Perth on the evening of Thursday 16 March
at 19:50 AWST. Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a
bright dot), click to embiggen.

All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Friday 17 March for Melbourne.

All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Thursday 16 March for Adelaide.

All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Thursday 16 March for Perth.

Starting tonight there are a series of bright evening passes of the
International Space Station lasting around five days. Many are low to the horizon, but for many places in Australia
this series has the ISS gliding either throughthe Southern
cross, coming close to bright stars or distinctive constellations such as Orion. Some of the passes are very short although
bright as the ISS enters Earth's shadow.The est and brightest of the passes occur during a period from 16-18 March, favouring the east coast.

When and what you will see is VERY location dependent, so you need to use either Heavens Above or CalSky
to get site specific predictions for your location, a small difference in location can mean the difference between the ISS passing over Procyon or missing it completely.

Start looking several minutes before the pass is going to start to get
yourself oriented and your eyes dark adapted. Be patient, there may be
slight differences in the time of the ISS appearing due to orbit changes
not picked up by the predictions. Use the most recent prediction for
your site.

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

The Sky This Week - Thursday March 16 to Thursday March 23

The Last Quarter Moon is Tuesday March 21. Earth is at equinox on the 20th. Mars is low in the twilight. There is a series of bright ISS passes this week. Jupiter and
the bright star Spica
are
close in the late evening
skies. Saturn is high in the morning sky with the last quarter Moon below it on the 21st.

The Last Quarter Moon is Tuesday March 21.The Moon is at apogee, when it is futrhest from the AErth, on the 19th. Earth is at equinox, when night and day are approximately equal, on the 20th.

Evening sky on Saturday March 18 looking west as seen from Adelaide
at
20:25 ACDST (60 minutes after sunset). Mars is low above the horizon.

Similar
views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time
(that is 60 minutes after local sunset, click
to embiggen).

Mars is in the western evening skies in Pisces. It is is low in the
dusk sky, but is the brightest object above the western horizon low in the late twilight.

The ISS passes almost over Procyon, as seen from Melbourne on the evening of Friday 17 March at 20:25 AEDST. Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a bright dot), click to embiggen.

Starting on the 16th there are a series of bright evening passes of the
International Space Station lasting around five days. Many are low to
the horizon, but for many places in Australia
this series has the ISS gliding either through the Southern
cross, coming close to bright stars or distinctive constellations such
as Orion. Some of the passes are very short although
bright as the ISS enters Earth's shadow.The best and brightest of the
passes occur during a period from 16-18 March, favouring the east coast.
For more details see this page.

Late evening sky on Saturday March 18 looking east as seen from
Adelaide at 23:00 ACDST. Jupiter is now well above the horizon close to the bright star Spica. The inset shows the telescopic
view of Jupiter at this time. Similar
views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent
local time. (click
to embiggen).

Jupiteris
rising well before midnight and is now reasonably high above the
horizon in the late evening this week. It is close to the bright star Spica, the brightest
star in the constellation of Virgo.
Jupiter is a good telescopic target
from around midnight on, and the dance of its Moons is
visible even in binoculars. The following Jupiter events are in AEDST.

Morning sky on Tuesday March 21 looking east as seen from
Adelaide at 5:52 ACDST (90 minutes before sunrise). Saturn is high above the horizon and the waning Moon is just below it.

The inset
shows the telescopic view of Saturn at this time. Similar
views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent
local time (90 minutes before sunrise). (click
to embiggen).

Saturn
rises higher in darker morning skies this week. Saturn is now high
enough above eastern horizon to see easily and is now a good telescopic
target. It continues to
climb into darker skies as the week progresses. It is within binocular
distance of the Triffid and Lagoon nebula, however, the proximity of the waning Moon, closest on the 21st, makes viwing these nebular difficult.

The constellation of Scorpio is a good guide to locating Saturn. The distinctive curl of Scorpio is easy to see above the
eastern horizon, locate the bright red star, Antares, and the look below
that towards the horizon, the next bright object is Saturn.

There are lots
of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. If you don't have a telescope, now
is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.

Friday, March 10, 2017

Southern Skywatch March, 2017 edition is now out!

Late evening sky on Tuesday March 14 looking east as seen from
Adelaide at 23:00 ACDST. Jupiter is now well above the horizon close to the bright star Spica.

The inset shows the telescopic
view of Jupiter at 23:00 pm as Europa is about reappear from occultation. Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent
local time. (click
to embiggen).

Astrophiz Podcast 29 is Out

Our feature interview is with Dr Ángel López-Sánchez,
who is originally from the beautiful city of Córdoba in Spain, and now
with the Australian Astronomical Observatory and Department of Physics
and Astronomy of Macquarie University, Sydney.

He researches
galaxies with star-formation activity, and even the features of the very
massive Wolf-Rayet stars are detected sometimes.

He was the first
Spanish astronomer to host an astronomy blog. It is fantastic, and our
listeners can find it easily just by googling ‘the lined wolf’. It comes
up as number one in search results (in Spanish and in English). Ángel is
passionate about outreach and amateur astronomy.

In ‘What’s up Doc?’I tells you what to look for in
the night sky this week using naked eye, binoculars or telescopes. This
week, Jupiter and Saturn, and a chance encounter with a comet.

In the News: 1.
‘Big Data’ Updating the supercomputing that is evolving from the SKA,
(the Square Kilometre Array is based in Murchison West Australia and
South Africa, with headquarters at Jodrell Bank UK)2. Fast Radio
Bursts (FRBs) hit mainstream astronomy after their original discovery
using 2001 pulsar data from Parkes 'The Dish' Radio Telescope

Tuesday, March 07, 2017

The Sky This Week - Thursday March 9 to Thursday March 16

The Full Moon is Monday March 13. Venus
is lost in the
twilight.
Mars is low in the twilight. Jupiter and
the bright star Spica
are
close in the late evening
skies. The Moon forms a line with Jupiter and Spica on March 14. Saturn is high in the morning sky.

The Full Moon is Monday March 13.

Evening sky on Saturday March 11 looking west as seen from Adelaide
at
20:33 ACDST (60 minutes after sunset). Mars is low above the horizon.

Similar
views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time
(that is 60 minutes after local sunset, click
to embiggen).

Mars is in the western evening skies in Pisces. It is is low in the
dusk sky, but is the brightest object above the western horizon low in the late twilight.

Late evening sky on Tuesday March 14looking east as seen from
Adelaide at 23:00 ACDST. Jupiter is now well above the horizon close to the bright star Spica. The inset shows the telescopic
view of Jupiter at 23:00 pm as Europa is about reappear from occultation. Similar
views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent
local time. (click
to embiggen).

Jupiteris
rising well before midnight and is now reasonably high above the
horizon in the late evening this week. It is close to the bright star Spica, the brightest
star in the constellation of Virgo. On the 14th Jupiter is between the waning Moon and Spica, making a nice sight.

Jupiter is a good telescopic target
from around midnight on, and the dance of its Moons is
visible even in binoculars. The following Jupiter events are in AEDST.

Morning sky on Saturday Saturday March 11 looking east as seen from
Adelaide at 5:46 ACDST (90 minutes before sunrise). Saturn is high above the horizon.

The inset
shows the telescopic view of Saturn at this time. Similar
views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent
local time (90 minutes before sunrise). (click
to embiggen).

Saturn
rises higher in darker morning skies this week. Saturn is now high
enough above eastern horizon to see easily and is now a good telescopic
target. It continues to
climb into darker skies as the week progresses. It is within binocular
distance of the Triffid and Lagoon nebula, which makes for nice viewing.

The constellation of Scorpio is a good guide to locating Saturn. The distinctive curl of Scorpio is easy to see above the
eastern horizon, locate the bright red star, Antares, and the look below
that towards the horizon, the next bright object is Saturn.

There are lots
of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. If you don't have a telescope, now
is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.

Wednesday, March 01, 2017

Venus, the Crescent Moon and Mars

Venus, the crescent Moon and Mars at 40 minutes after sunset in Adelaide (click to embiggen to see Mars)

Same group but 50 minutes after sunset. Canon IXUS 400 ASA, 1 second exposure. Click to embiggen.

After a spate of bad weather I finally got to image Venus again, the first time in nearly two months! Venus is low in the twight, but still readily visible if you have the ocean as your horizon. The sunset colurs were fantastic, and I have used to shots to try and capture the range of colours and the Moonlight on the water, as well as Earthshine.
I should have lugged my telescope up to see crescent Venus, but the heat was too great.

The Sky This Week - Thursday March 2 to Thursday March 9

The First Quarter Moon is Sunday March 5. Venus
is very low in the
twilight sky.
Mars is just above
Venus. The Moon forms a line with Mars and Venus on March 2. Jupiter and
the bright star Spica
are
close in the late evening
skies. Saturn is high in the morning sky.

The First Quarter Moon is Sunday March 5. The Moon is at perigee, when it is closest to the Earth, on March 3.

Evening sky on Thursday March 2 looking west as seen from Adelaide
at
20:17 ACDST (30 minutes after sunset). Venus, Mars and the crescent
Moon form a line. The inset shows the telescopic view of Venus at
this time.

Similar
views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time
(that is 30 minutes after local sunset, click
to embiggen).

Venus
is low in the
dusk sky although intensely bright. After being a feature of the evening sky
for so long, it is now rapidly heading towards the horizon and will soon be lost in the twilight.

It can be seen in a narrow window from a little
before half an hour after sunset to just after half an hour after sunset. It is
dazzlingly brilliant above the horizon in the early twilight and is a distinct crescent shape. This week is the last time we will see Venus clearly before it is lost in the twilight.

Late evening sky on Saturday February 25 looking east as seen from
Adelaide at 23:00 ACDST. Jupiter is now rising before midnight.
It is close to the bright star Spica. The inset shows the telescopic
view of Jupiter at 23:29 pm on the 5th as Europa is about transit Jupiter. Similar
views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent
local time. (click
to embiggen).

Jupiteris rising well before midnight, but remains low to the
horizon in the late evening this week and is still better in the early morning. It is close to the bright star Spica, the brightest
star in the constellation of Virgo. Jupiter is a good telescopic target
from around midnight on, and the dance of its Moons is
visible even in binoculars. The following Jupiter events are in AEDST.

Morning sky on Saturday February 25 looking east as seen from
Adelaide at 5:36 ACDST (90 minutes before sunrise). Saturn is high above the horizon.

The inset
shows the telescopic view of Saturn at this time. Similar
views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent
local time (90 minutes before sunrise). (click
to embiggen).

Saturn
rises higher in darker morning skies this week. Saturn is now high
enough above eastern horizon to see easily and is now a good telescopic target. It continues to
climb into darker skies as the week progresses. It is within binocular distance of the Triffid and Lagoon nebula, which makes for nice viewing.

The constellation of Scorpio is a good guide to locating Saturn. The distinctive curl of Scorpio is easy to see above the
eastern horizon, locate the bright red star, Antares, and the look below
that towards the horizon, the next bright object is Saturn.
Mercury is lost in the twilight.

There are lots
of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. If you don't have a telescope, now
is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.